Lately, Richardson tells me, in addition to painting he’s been teaching at Santa Fe University of Art and Design. “I have a student, a 60-year-old man. He’s a Hopi,” Richardson says. The idea of a young, Anglo, contemporary painter instructing an older Native American in abstract art strikes me as a juxtaposition fit for Santa Fe. Richardson continues, “At one point he was making his art, and his gallery stopped him and said, ‘No, we like the buffalos and the eagles.’ He could sell a painting for US$400 because it has a buffalo on it, but I say screw that. I told him to learn the real story and sell it for a couple thousand.”
A thousand years after people first inhabited the town site, four hundred years after it was founded, and one hundred years after the decision was made to market its cultural heritage, Santa Fe continues to evolve and continues to grapple with what’s true. It’s impossible to say for sure, though I feel a little more certain when I wake at dawn a few mornings after visiting Richardson. As the black horizon line of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains to the east sharpens with the approaching sun, ribbons of cloud glow pumpkin and coral and tangerine against strips of indigo and periwinkle sky—just like Richardson’s canvas. The color and intensity is something I’d have sworn couldn’t exist in nature, and yet here it is. And my first instinct, the only thing I can think about doing, is to sit down and write.
The Details
Getting There
The main airport in Albuquerque, an hour’s drive away, is connected to major American hubs such as Denver, Chicago, and Los Angeles.
Where to Stay
Southwestern-style furnishings, local artwork, and Pueblo-inspired architecture are hallmarks of the charming La Posada de Santa Fe Resort (330 East Palace Ave.; 1-855/278-5276; doubles from US$169), set in a leafy compound in the center of town. More intimate still is the
Inn of the Anasazi (113 Washington Ave.; 1-505/988-3030; doubles rom US$285), with just 58 rooms outfitted with kiva fireplaces and Navajo rugs. Those looking for a more expansive setting should book one of the airy villa-style casitas at the Four Seasons Resort Rancho Encantado (198 State Road 592; 1-505/946-5700; doubles from US$350). Located on a 23-hectare estate in the foothills north of town, the recently rebranded property offers a pared- down Southwest style and Native American– inspired spa treatments.
Where to Eat
Set in the Historic Borrego House amid the galleries of Canyon Road, fine-dining stalwart Geronimo (724 Canyon Rd.; 1-505/982-1500) puts a Southwestern spin on global cuisine; try the signature elk tenderloin. Closer to the center of town, head to Tomme (229 Galisteo St.; 1-505/820-2253) for a taste of chef Joseph Wrede’s celebrated cooking, or to the cozy adobe building inhabited by Azur (428 Agua Fria St.; 1-505/992-2897) for tapas and other Mediterranean dishes. Just a block from the Plaza, Mexican folk art meets Southwestern and Nuevo Latino specialties at Café Pasqual’s (121 Don Gaspar Ave.; 1-505/ 983-9340), a cheerful haunt.
What to See
Santa has no lack of world-class museums, with highlights including the Museum of Contemporary Native Arts (108 Cathedral Pl.; 1-888/922-4242), the New Mexico Museum of Art (107 West Palace Ave.; 1-505/ 476-5072), and the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum (217 Johnson St.; 1-505/946-1000), which showcases works by one of Santa Fe’s most famous artists and her contemporaries.
For opera buffs, the Santa Fe Opera (301 Opera Dr.; 1-505/ 986-5900) presents consistently remarkable performances during its June–August season.
Visitors also have their choice of art galleries; start in the Railyard area, home to James Kelly Contemporary (550 South Guadalupe St.; 1-505/989-1601), the David Richard Gallery (544 South Guadalupe St.; 1-855/983-9555), and SITE Santa Fe (1606 Paseo de Peralta; 1-505/989-1199), among others.
This article originally appeared in the February/March 2013 print issue of DestinAsian magazine (“The Spirit of Santa Fe”)
